This picture was taken at 6:30 am. The flower is still open on a chilly morning.

Hand in picture to show size of this beauty!
This is a plant few even know about. Each giant bud blooms only one night. The bud slowly swells until one afternoon you know for sure "tonight will be the night!" and you can invite your friends over for the gala event. Then about an hour after dark it happens, this beauty opens to delight all present with a sight and aroma few expenience in their lifetime. Truly a sight to behold.

This is a picture of my night blooming cereus. It has had as many as 23 blooms at a time.

I was just given this plant a few days ago - I think it got too large for the previous owners. This picture was taken during the day, so it doesn't show off the blooms, but it does show how big these can get!

This is a sequence of 4 photos, showing the opening over 4 hours.

My Mother was given a start of this plant when I was 8 yrs. old.Mother gave me the plant in 1977 and I have divided it several times. Somewhere in these pots is a 50+ yr. old root. I have learned how to care for mine by trial and error. I did learn two very important thing. 1. they bloom better if they are root bound. 2. If you pinch the tips off of the long shoots it will force them to make more leaves, instead of growing long and producing 1 or 2 leafs on the end. If you look closely at the picture you will see that there are 2 pots here. Each pot has a tomato stake in it that the stems are tied up to and that is what gives mine the cascade leaf look. Feel free to write if you have any questions on the care of this plant. cbalihi@yahoo.com

Here is a picture of the fruit that the night blooming cereus grows after blooming. It is supposed to be edible but it didn't have much taste. Probably fell before maturity. The wasp really like this plant.

Recently rooted cuttings.

Close up of the flower. I noticed a "track" of stamens on the way to the entrance of the tube. The insect needs to land on there and walk over all those anthers to get the nectar inside, covering itself with pollen. Rio de Janeiro, early summer.

General aspect of my plant when it was blooming for the first time. Rio de Janeiro, early summer.